Some information about Jean Crawford Pender
Here follows an email exchange with William Patterson, a second cousin (via adoption) of Jean Crawford Pender :
Email: 08/04/2014 23:59: William Patterson: Subject: About the Ancestry @ Pender Website
Hi, I've recently retired and started researching my family tree. By chance I stumbled upon your site when searching for Pender, Paisley. In the surnames section I found Lily Stevenson Pender and the details of her parents and a note about an illegitimate child. I'm pretty certain that child,Janet Crawford Pender, became my mother's cousin when adopted. Janet was born 11/4/1931 and died 21/12/2010. On her death Certificate her son George has entered that Janet's mother was Lily Stevenson Pender, Soap Manufacturers Clerk. Janet was adopted by my great aunt and uncle Janet and George Crawford. I don't want to add 2+2 to make 5 but it may not be a coincidence that Janet was given the middle name Crawford before adoption and then ended with a step-father surname Crawford. Janet and George Crawford were married 4/1/1919 in Airdrie but lived in Airth, Stirlingshire. George is listed as a coal miner on the wedding registration, his father Hugh Crawford was a stonemason. As a child I met Janet and George only once or twice but he was always called Peddlar Crawford. I found these details on a search in Edinburgh.
On my search I also have that the father of Lily Stevenson Pender was John Pender an Engine Patternmaker.
Regards
Wm Patterson B.Sc., B.A.
Email: 09/04/2014 00:11: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender
Sorry to write again so quickly but just noticed that you do have Janet's husband as James Neiles, Janet and James lived in High Valleyfield, Fife.
The witnesses were my parents!
The name Paterson though is the incorrect version, our name has always been spelled Patterson and their first house was in Letham about a mile from Airth where Janet lived.
Amazing to see this.
Janet Crawford (Pender) Neiles was also a witness at my parents marriage.
Regards,
Wm Patterson B.Sc., B.A.
Reply: 09/04/2014 23:14: Richard Pender: Subject: Re: Re: About the Ancestry @ Pender Website
Dear William,
Thank you for your email. I am glad you were able to find something of interest in these web pages. And, congratulations on your retirement.
Sorry that the web-form was not working properly. I will try to fix it in the next few days.
Thank you for the information about Janet Crawford Pender. I will update the information in the family tree.
Unfortunately I am not a genealogy expert. All the information I have presented on the web-pages is taken from Dad's notes. Just like you, after retiring, he delved in to the 'Family History' as a hobby, and spent quite a lot of time in Register House in Edinburgh and in London, both researching his side of the Pender/Borthwick/Stevenson families and Mum's side of Stevenson/Reynolds families. This was in the 90's before the internet really got going, so it was a lot of manual research for him, searching through the ledgers and copying down results on to card files. I guess it wasn't possible to simply take copies of all the genealogical 'evidence' (birth/death/marriage certificates etc), so it is not quite a 'bullet-proof' genealogical tree but he was conscientious and critical to make sure the data made sense.
Dad died last year, and I wanted to make sure that his efforts didn't go to waste, so spent some time to make a small web-site for the family. I really should have done it for him while he was alive, but these are the things that one regrets later.
Concerning Janet, I didn't know anything about her, except that there had been an 'illegitimate' child born to Lily Pender. However, I later found in Dad's notes that he had found some information about her and her marriage in Edinburgh to James Neiles. As you probably already know Janet's mother Lily, gave the child up for adoption, but later died at a relatively young age of 31 during a tonsillectomy. What nowadays would be seen as a routine operation was in those days still fraught with danger due to the primitive anaesthetic procedures.
You can find a picture of the Pender family, ca. 1920, with Lily sitting at the front at this link:
http://www.pender.ch/ancestry/photo-gallery/#!prettyPhoto[pender-family-photo-gallery]/82/
If you would like a higher resolution version I can provide it.
You also pointed out that I have spelt the name 'Patterson' as 'Paterson'. It is likely that I have copied the name wrongly or misinterpreted Dad's handwriting, but I will check this the next time I am back in Edinburgh, and update it accordingly.
If there is anything else that piques your interest or you want to point out any discrepancies, please do not hesitate to get back in touch.
--
Kind regards,
Richard Pender
Email: 10/04/2014 17:26: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender
Hi Richard,
Forgive the clumsy method of providing you with some photos involving Janet Crawford Pender but I wanted to respond to your email before I head to Hong Kong tomorrow for a cruise of the Far East, you have to fill your retirement days somehow lol.
I had noticed your father has passed away last year from the website and was saddened to see that. My father, David Patterson the witness at Janet and James wedding passed away 2 years ago on Saturday and I still can't believe he's gone. My mother, Agnes Patterson the other witness passed in 2005.
Your dad did some sterling work in compiling the Pender famly tree, all the more so as you said that it was a paper search. I've spent 2 days in Edinburgh using the computer systems there to print out births, deaths, marriages and census information but the fun will start when i have to start delving into Old Parish Registers I think.
I will send you several e-mails following this one with images and a short note on each.
The image attached here is the last image I have of Janet with her husband James Neiles celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in Airth, Stirlingshire, her home town after adoption. To the best of my knowledge Janet and James lived their whole married life in High Valleyfield, a mining town, James was a miner.
Regards,
William Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140410_0005.jpg
Email: 10/04/2014 17:34: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender 2
Another 50th wedding image. On the left is my mother Agnes Patterson who was 1 year older than Janet. In the middle is one of Janet's grandchildren but her name escapes me.
Janet had 3 children, interestingly her first born was named Betty, as no other relative I know of in our family was called Elizabeth, perhaps she was named after your aunt who sent gifts to Janet. Her other children are George and Janet, I imagine, as is often the case, they were named after her parents, in this case the parents that adopted her.
Regards,
Wm Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140410_0004.jpg
Email: 10/04/2014 17:43: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender 3
My parents wedding, Janet is next to my mother. Janet would be 20 in this photo. The best man was a relative of my father, James Hampton from Edinburgh. The flower girl was my cousin Anne Laing.
Should have mentioned in 50th anniversary e-mails that the photos were taken March 2002.
The above photo is from 7/9/1951.
Regards
Wm Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140410_0002.jpg
Email: 10/04/2014 17:53: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender 4
This photo I can't be certain of as there are no details with it but I strongly suspect that the third lady from the right is Janet, aged about 16 as the lady on her left is my maternal grandmother Annie Miller. Annie died in 1951, her husband had already died, prompting my mother to bring forward her marriage plans to later that same year. As such I'd put the image mid to late 1940s.
Regards
Wm Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140410_0003.jpg
Email: 10/04/2014 18:05: William Patterson: Subject: Janet Crawford Pender 5
This is the final and earliest photo I have of Janet. The lady standing was Janet's adoptive mother. Janet Crawford (nee Paterson) married to George Crawford.
Janet Crawford (nee Paterson) was the youngest sister of Annie Miller (nee Paterson) in the last e-mail. Sitting is Margaret Connal (nee Paterson) an older sister to Janet, standing.
I would think Janet Crawford Pender is around 7 in this photo. If so Janet and George Crawford had been married around 19 years at this point.
There is one last image I'll send to you, it shows Janet Crawford (nee Paterson) with her family.
I intend upon my return from holiday to try and contact George Neiles, Janet's son to see if he, Betty or Janet can offer any more information but if they are unable to there may be information I can retrieve in Edinburgh from an Adoptive Register that was started in 1930 for Scotland. Lastly, if Janet was placed into what became Quarriers Homes for orphaned children they would be able to provide some background. If I find anything out I'll pass it on to you.
Regards
Wm Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140410_0002.jpg
Email: 10/04/2014 18:16: William Patterson: Subject: Last Image Relating to JCPender
This image shows the future adoptive mother of Janet Crawford Pender.
The smallest child, in front is Janet Paterson later to become Janet Crawford the lady standing in the last photo. The girl with the short hair siting on the left is Margaret Paterson, the lady sitting in the last photo. The tallest child is my grandmother Annie Paterson who is standing in the photo at the railing with I believe Janet Crawford Pender.
The boy is John Wright Paterson later to join the navy and then army in WW1.
Their mother is Margaret Cairns Paterson (nee Gilbert), the gentleman is my great grandfather Robert Wright Paterson. I would put the photo data at around 1901.
Thanks again for getting in touch and thanks again to your father for taking the time to do the work of compiling the Pender family tree. I'll pass on the website to Betty, George and Janet, Lily's grandchildren, in particular, to view the photos there - including Lily, it was so sad to read of how she died.
Regards
Wm Patterson
Attachment: IMG_20140106_0005.jpg
Reply: 10/04/2014 21:01: Richard Pender: Subject: Re: Janet Crawford Pender
Dear William,
Many thanks for the photographs.
I was also intrigued by the comment about Janet possibly naming one of her daughters 'Betty' after my father's Aunt Elsie (Elisabeth). Aunt Elsie was generous to her nephews and nieces , and she enjoyed her holidays. For example in the Isle of Man in 1950:
http://www.pender.ch/ancestry/photo-gallery/#!prettyPhoto[pender-family-photo-gallery]/13/
I hope you enjoy your cruise in the Far East.
--
Kind regards,
Richard Pender